Politifact argued in a new fact-check that it was "misleading to suggest" that American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten didn’t want to reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weingarten testified to the House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee on April 26 in what Politifact called a "contentious hearing." Republicans claimed that the teachers’ union president was instrumental in keeping schools locked down during the majority of the pandemic. Weingarten repeatedly refused to take responsibility for the lockdowns despite the challenges from multiple Republicans and a Twitter community note.
However, the Politifact writer argued that, after looking through Weingarten’s statements, criticisms against her do not paint the full picture regarding the unions’ efforts to reopen schools.
"We looked closely at Weingarten’s statements, along with news reports, op-eds, transcripts and video clips of her remarks, and we found that, taken in isolation, neither Weingarten nor the Twitter note represented the full picture of Weingarten’s efforts and statements at the time," Politifact wrote.
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The analysis was also promoted from Politifact’s official Twitter account which also received a Twitter community notes.
"Teachers union President Randi Weingarten advocated for reopening schools with pandemic safety measures. She criticized the Trump administration’s 2020 calls to reopen schools fully, but it’s misleading to claim that she opposed reopening at all," Politifact tweeted.
Weingartern herself tweeted the Politifact analysis insisting that she "advocated for schools to reopen for in-person learning, provided they use safety precautions."
"Weingarten criticized Trump administration officials’ calls to reopen schools fully without a plan or safety measures in 2020, but it’s misleading to suggest that she didn’t want to pursue reopening schools at all," the analysis concluded.
Although the Politifact analysis insisted that Weingarten and the teachers’ union were working to reopen schools, there were multiple examples in the past few years of both Weingarten and state unions working to keep schools closed or discourage in-person learning.
In 2021, emails reviewed by Fox News revealed that both the AFT and the National Education Association received a copy of the CDC guidance regarding school-reopening policies prior to their public release. In addition, the emails also showed a last-minute request to alter the language of the guidelines insisting that a "new update of these guidelines may be necessary" in the event of a new variant.
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In 2022, Weingarten still suggested that she was open to school lockdowns based on a "spike" in coronavirus cases.
"There are very real logistical decisions schools are making," Weingarten tweeted. "We know kids do better in person, but the spike is real. We need adequate staff & the safety measures in place including testing, masking ventilation. There is a lot of stress."
After Weingarten’s testimony in April, the AFT president continued to face backlash for the lack of accountability on her efforts to close schools.
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"I think you'll find that most parents believe you are the tip of the spear of school closures," CNN’s Scott Jennings told Weingarten on Friday. "There are numerous statements you made over the summer of '20 scaring people to death about the possibility of opening schools. And I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that's been done to these kids."
